A Thanksgiving Surprise
by Dreamcatcher2012
Summary: It's Thanksgiving at the Montgomery house and Aria has a surprise visitor. Who could it be? I'll give you 2 guesses... I haven't written in a while, but got some inspiration. It will probably be 2-3 chapters. As always reviews are appreciated!
1. Chapter 1

Aria heard a soft knock at the front door as she made her way leisurely down the stairs. It was Thanksgiving Day and she was dressed in yet another Aria outfit ready for her family meal. The Montgomery's had decided to have a family Thanksgiving. Just the four of them as Ella was still recovering from her break up with Zach. That fact in mind, Aria made her way to the front door, haphazardly swatting away a stray piece of hair that had fallen in her face. Slightly puzzled as to who was visiting on a holiday, she took a deep breath to compose herself and opened the door. Standing in front of her was the last person she expected: Ezra Fitz.

Juggling two pies, Ezra awkwardly stood on the porch juggling the pair of pies he and Aria had made just two days before. "Hi," Ezra finally said breaking the silence.

Still baffled by Ezra's presence at her home, Aria struggled to form words. " What… what are you doing here?" Aria spoke quickly and quietly, clearly trying to keep her family, especially Byron from discovering Ezra's presence.

"Well," Ezra gulped, "Ella invited me."

"What do you mean my Mom invited you," Aria spat, simultaneously irritated at both Ella and Ezra.

"I mean I ran into her yesterday at the market and she found out I didn't have any plans, so she invited me".

"She had no right to do that," Aria interrupted. "I can't believe this," she scoffed, not know how to handle this awkward situation. Her and Ezra had been taking baby steps lately, just hanging out as friends. Ella knew that Aria wasn't sure what she wanted when it came to Ezra, but evidently Ella had other ideas. What Ella didn't know was that Ezra and Aria had gotten into a fight the other night and currently weren't on the best of terms.

"Look, Aria, can I just come in for a minute. I want to talk to you…. And these pies are getting a little heavy, " Ezra muttered while feebly attempting to adjust his hold on the pie in his left hand.

With a huff of exacerbation, Aria stepped aside ushering Ezra into their living room. Not the most welcoming invitation, but Ezra was grasping at straws at this point. Aria had been ignoring his texts and calls since the events of the other night and he couldn't take it anymore. Ezra gestured to the couch, but Aria held her position, she wasn't going to give him an inch.

"About the other night…" he started, fully aware that Aria did not want to have this conversation, "I want to make perfectly clear what I meant."

"I don't think you have anything to explain, you were very CLEAR the other night," Aria retorted.

- _Two days ago_ -

_Aria brushed her hands together, getting the last remnants of flour off of them having just set the timer for the pies she and Ezra baked together. Removing her apron and placing it on the hook by the fridge, are made her way to join Ezra on the couch. _

"_Why don't we watch a movie?" He suggested. _

"_Hmmm, I don't know if I'm into a movie tonight. I think I would just drift off," Aria mused. _

" _Okay, well what would you like to do then?"_

"_Can we just sit here for a minute? Baking those pies was stressful"._

"_HA!" Ezra laughed, "Of course". _

_Aria made herself more comfortable, slowly edging towards Ezra's body on the couch. Within a minute, she was snuggled up to his side, staying silent as she had suggested leaving Ezra frozen and completely bewildered. She had made it clear a few days ago that they were just friends and nothing more. So, why was she acting as if they were still together and nothing had ever changed?_

_The sat in silence for a few more minutes until Aria began moving again, tilting her face up off Ezra's toned chest and bringing her face up to meet his. Carefully but decidedly, Aria brushed her lips against Ezra's. _

_Too shocked to react once again, Ezra just went with it, allowing Aria to continue her exploration. After granting her access to his mouth and deepening their kiss, Aria moved her body to cover his. She was now effectively sitting on his lap as their makeout session was quickly escalating. As Aria reached for Ezra's shirt and began pulling it up, Ezra finally realized what was happening and moved to stop her. _

"_Aria, wait" he struggled to say in between kisses. Aria continued disregarding his words and started grinding into him slightly, eliciting a moan from Ezra. "Aria, wait," he tried again, " please…. Listen to me". Finally with no other choice Ezra broke away from Aria's assault on his neck, grabbed her arms and gently moved her off of him._

_Completely shocked at Ezra's actions, tears soon appeared in Aria's eyes and began to spill down her cheeks. She moved to the furthest part of the couch quickly not quite sure what had just occurred. _

"_Aria," Ezra began gently, not meaning to have upset her with his actions. "Its just… I can't… I don't want…." he struggled to get out the words not sure exactly how to broach the subject of their relationship. Ezra didn't want to have meaningless sex with Aria again. For him it was never meaningless and the back and forth between being together for a fling and being just friends was torture to him. She meant too much to him to just be sex. It wasn't fair, not to him, not to her and definitely not their relationship, or what was left of it at that point. _

_That was it for Aria. Ezra had just rejected her and wasn't even capable of providing her with an explanation. At this point, she didn't even need one. Aria jumped off the couch and frantically began gathering her things around the apartment. Ezra had humiliated her once again and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of watching her completely fall apart. She finally reached the door and rushed out, not even bothering to acknowledge Ezra who was calling out her name repeatedly, begging her to stay. _

_With the slam of a door, she was gone and Ezra was left alone once again in apartment 3B. He truly hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but she didn't even give him a chance to explain. Angry at himself and pissed at Aria's taking off without a second thought, Ezra made his way to bed for what was sure to be another sleepless night. _

_When Ezra had finally settled into bed, the timer for the pies he had completely forgotten about went off. "Dammit!" He yelled as he rolled out of bed, stumbling through the dark to the oven. Pulling the pies out, he threw them on the counter and switched the oven off. _

_The night didn't end up like a normal pie night for Aria and Ezra, but Ezra did realize one thing. The pies came out perfectly. Something he and Aria had made together came out okay… maybe he's crazy, but Ezra took this as a sign that maybe he and Aria would be ok too. _

_- End Flashback -_

"Aria, you left before I could even explain why I stopped us! Just a few seconds and you were gone! What was I supposed to do?" he looked at her, his eyes begging for an answer. When she remained quiet, her eyes once again glimmering and threatening for tears to fall, Ezra realized how much he had truly hurt her. Taking a hesitant step towards Aria, he boldly reached for her hands.

Gazing deeply into her eye's and with as much conviction as he could muster, Ezra spoke, "I love you Aria. I didn't mean to hurt you the other night. Will you please hear me out?"

Aria looked down at their joined hands, unsure of what her answer would be. He had rejected her just as she began to open back up to him. Taking a deep breath, she raised her gaze to once again fall upon Ezra's beautiful blue eyes ready to give her answer…


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi Everyone! Here is the second chapter! I hope you all like it! I'm thinking one or two more chapters for this one, but I haven't written them yet so I'm not sure. As always, please review! If you have anything you want to happen, let me know and I'll see what works!**

Aria looked down at their joined hands, unsure of what her answer would be. He had rejected her just as she began to open back up to him. Taking a deep breath, she raised her gaze to once again fall upon Ezra's beautiful blue eyes ready to give her answer…

"Okay," she said, "I'll listen. You deserve at least that much."

Ezra wasn't going to waste the opportunity Aria gave him. She may not have completely opened the door to her heart, but she had at least cracked a window. It's more than he should hope for anyway.

"Can we sit," Ezra spoke as he motioned to the couch, " I feel like we both might be more comfortable… this isn't exactly a conversation about the weather."

Before Aria could object, he led her gently over to the couch. They sat facing each other but not close enough to touch. Ezra had let go of Aria's hands, afraid to push his luck to far. He also remembered that the last time they had been on a couch together it didn't exactly go well.

"The other night when we were together, I didn't push you away because I didn't want you, Aria. I have never not wanted you Aria and I'm pretty sure you're all I'll ever want, " Ezra began with sincerity warming his eyes.

"I wasn't saying no to you, I was saying no to us being intimate again so soon, before we really understand what is going on between us. You said the other day that we were just friends and that what happened last week shouldn't have happened. And, in retrospect I agree. It was too soon and I think we were both on the same page." Ezra stared at Aria looking for any sign of understanding. Was anything he was saying sinking in?

Without any real signs from Aria, Ezra continued. " I understand that I hurt you immensely. What I did was nothing short of unforgivable. I'm shocked you even let me see you after everything I've done. But, that being said, it's too hard…." Ezra hesitated, clearly hurt himself at the difficult circumstances. "It's too hard to be that close to you and then to have you go back to acting like we are just friends the next morning. It's too confusing and it hurts too much."

With that last statement, Aria's mood quickly changed. Her attitude quickly shifted from an open one to one of annoyance and anger. "You're hurt?" Aria raised her voice at Ezra, " You're the one who betrayed me and lied to me for years!"

"I know, I know that, Aria, " Ezra spoke softly, trying to calm her while searching the rooms around them for any sign of her family. "I'm trying to say that I think our "slips" aren't benefiting either of us. It makes what we have…what we had" he corrected, " seem cheap".

"Cheap? Are you saying I'm cheap? " Aria retorted, looking Ezra straight in the eye.

"No, No. Of course I'm not saying that Aria." Ezra replied, baffled that she thought that was even a possibility. "But, us sleeping together when there's no commitment, when we both aren't on the same page…. It feels different… We have always felt right together, don't get me wrong. That is the one truth that has kept me sane through everything was knowing how right we felt together. But, I'm not sure you were taking it as seriously as it should have been. Sex with us has never been meaningless…. And I've been trying to give you space, but then we get caught up in the normalcy of us being together and it's confusing."

Ezra was struggling with exactly what to say. Trying to convey his feelings without upsetting Aria any further was a difficult task and Ezra wasn't sure it was working. Taking a deep breath and nervously rubbing the palms of his hands on his lap, he began once again.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you Aria and I want to be with you, but I need to know where you stand. The other day after picking up the box from The Brew you were upset. I know you said you were angry that I spoke to Ali, but I know it was more than that. Why were you so upset, Aria? Please tell me. I need to know what's going on with you. Talk to me, please" Ezra begged, reaching out to Aria and taking her hands in his once again.

Aria remained silent for a few minutes, staring at their joined hands. She had been meaning to talk to Ezra since she shared her feelings with Ella the other night. Maybe this is what Ella had in mind when she invited Ezra over to dinner. At the thought of Ella's scheming, Aria let a small smirk grace her face for a half of a second.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to tell you what's been going on with me," Aria began tentatively, " but with everything that's going on, I couldn't exactly find the right time. I mean you were still recovering and everything with Ali and the girls…."

"Aria, you know you can talk to me anytime. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," he spoke while rubbing small circles with his thumb on her hand as comforting gesture.

"Yeah, you're here now, Ezra! But, I almost lost you!" Aria replied, her tone returning to one of anger but also pain. Taking a moment, Aria calmed back down and began speaking again.

"I've been trying to figure out what I'm feeling, Ezra, but it's not all black and white. A lot has happened and I can't just forget all of that. Ezra, you turned my world upside down. When I found out about everything, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Nothing seemed like it would ever be okay again…Then, things changed after that night when I almost lost you… It's been difficult to get a hold on my feelings, every day I don't want to forget what has happened… But, then we have moments like the other day where we're baking pies and I forget. For a moment, I forget all the bad that's happened and we're just us, just Aria and Ezra. In those moments, everything's perfect. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've been trying, trying to trust you again. It's hard Ezra, I don't want to be made a fool again Ezra."

"You don't have to worry about that!" Ezra responded instantly. "I love you and I promise I will never hurt you like that again. I've made horrible mistakes, but you aren't one of them, Aria. Believe it or not, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I don't want to lose you."

"Okay," she responded after a moment with a slight smile on her face.

"Okay?" Ezra questioned with a small furrow in his brow, unsure of what Aria meant.

"You once told me that you have never regretted being with me and I want you to know that through everything, I don't regret us. Sure, it's been hard and we've made horrible mistakes, but we still can't help but love each other…." She trailed off.

Ezra stared hopefully into her eyes with the pregnant pause eagerly waiting for her to finish her thought.

"Maybe it's a curse?" she mused, " Or, maybe we're mean to live this sad tragic love affair… Either way I know that we're supposed to be together."

"So, where does that leave us now? Today?" Ezra questioned, wanting to make sure that he was perfectly clear as to what Aria was saying.

Aria smiled at his hopefulness. Taking a moment, she pulled one of her hands from Ezra's and brushed away the stray piece of hair that always fell onto his forehead.

"Do you remember what else you told me that day? The day we spoke in your classroom and I was wearing…"

"You were wearing your leopard print sweater with a magenta top," Ezra replied instantaneously, interrupting Aria mid sentence.

"Right," Aria nodded reassuringly, "do you remember what else you said to me that day when we weren't sure what the future held for us?"

"We move forward together," Ezra spoke hopefully, a small tear falling from the corner of his eye.

"Exactly," Aria replied, her smile growing, "we move forward together."

At that moment, Aria and Ezra moved towards each other as if there was a magnet drawing them together and kissed. Though it was a short and chaste kiss due to their presence in the Montgomery living room, it was filled with such raw emotion and passion that anyone would know the two were deeply in love with each other.

"Together," Ezra repeated as they pulled apart.

"Together," Aria responded reassuringly.

After staring lovingly into each others eyes for a few moments, content in each other's arms, the two lovers were brought back to reality with the sound of a pan dropping in the kitchen. "Dammit!" Ella yelled in frustration, making her presence known to both Aria and Ezra.

"Mom?" Aria called, " do you need some help in there?"

"No, honey, I'm fine!" she replied, a few more bangs of pots and pans echoed through the house coupled with a few more curse words.

"I'm just going to go check on my Mom," Aria said as she turned back to face Ezra and rose from the couch.

"Yeah, I think that's probably a good idea," Ezra laughing at the thought of Ella making all that noise in the kitchen. Clearly things weren't going as planned for her today. But then again, the day wasn't going as Ezra had planned either... it was much, much better.

**Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it! Reviews always appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I haven't posted in a few days! This chapter was a bit of a labor of love. It was hard to get started. As a warning, it's a little mushy and a little dramatic. But hey, it's Aria and Ezra, everything's dramatic. As always, read and review! I'm thinking one more short chapter, let me know your thoughts!**

Aria walked into the kitchen, wondering what mess Ella was whipping up. Clearly Ella was listening in on Aria and Ezra's conversation so she thought it best to see what her mother's reaction was before sitting down to dinner with the whole family. Well, that and giving her grief for not mentioning that she had invited Ezra.

"So… I'm guessing you heard all of that…." Aria began as she leaned up against one of the cabinets in the kitchen.

"I did," Ella stated simply, surprisingly calm.

"And…" Aria continued, waiting to hear what her mother had to say on the issue of her and Ezra.

"And what, Aria?" Ella questioned, confused as to what her daughter was looking for.

"And don't you have something to say? Concerns? I mean we weren't exactly having a light conversation and there were some things that you probably shouldn't have heard" Aria finished, somewhat exasperated.

"Obviously I wish I hadn't heard some of that conversation… hearing that your daughter is sleeping with her teacher on a whim isn't exactly what a mom wants to hear" Ella began, leaving Aria with her jaw dropped.

"It wasn't a whim!" Aria quickly countered. "Nothing with Ezra has ever been a whim. But I've been lost, Mom. I feel like everything in my life has been turned upside down. And Ezra, being with Ezra, it felt like for a few minutes my world was right side up". Aria looked at Ella with hopeful eyes, she wanted her to understand.

"Why do you think I invited him here tonight, Aria?" Ella spoke, confused at how Aria didn't see right through her plan from the start. "Ever since I got home, I saw you broken and hurt. All I've wanted to do is fix that for you, but I can't. Then, the other night when we were talking I could see how badly you wanted to make things work with Ezra. You may not have said it out loud and you may not have known it yourself, but I could see it. So… I gave you a little push." Ella gave Aria a slight smirk, knowing that she was right and knowing that Ezra was what her daughter needed.

Aria remained quiet at Ella's explanation, not sure what quite to say. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, searching for the right words. After a few moments, she spoke, "Thank you," she said simply, " thank you for seeing that Ezra and I together are right, even when I couldn't. I know it's complicated and hard for you to completely wrap your head around, but I need him. It's as simple as that."

"I might not love your relationship with him, but after his little speech just now, I do have a new respect for him," Ella responded to Aria with a loving smile and a slight shake of her head. No, Ella never did see something like this for her daughter. "Oh, and one more thing…"

"What's that?" Aria responded, a curious look on her face.

"I didn't exactly mention to your father that Ezra was coming…. So we should probably go run some interference…." Ella mentioned as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

A look of panic came across Aria's face as she thought of Ezra alone in the living room about to be confronted by her father. I mean they weren't on bad terms currently, but she had a feeling that might change when Byron found Ezra looking comfy on his couch on Thanksgiving.

"Ezra, what are you doing here?" Aria heard Byron ask from the other room.

Aria and Ella quickly made their way to the living room to run interference. When they entered, they immediately saw Byron with a bewildered expression on his face and Ezra looking pale and at a loss for words

"I invited him," she said looking at Byron as if it wasn't a big deal. At this statement, Aria made her way to Ezra's side, wrapping her arms around his waist, hoping to convey in a gesture what she didn't want to spell out for her father.

"I see," Byron responded with a terse look on his face. He wasn't livid, which Aria was surprise by, but he definitely wasn't happy to see his daughter in the arms of her teacher once again. Most of all, he knew that Aria had been hurt by Ezra recently and didn't want to see her hurt again. But, when he looked closer at the couple, he could tell she seemed less tense than she had been for the last couple of weeks. Instead, she seemed almost relaxed, comforted by Ezra's presence.

Everyone stayed silent, looking around the room, not sure how to proceed. That is until they heard the sounds of another person making their way down the stairs loudly.

As Mike reached the bottom of the stairs after barreling down them like a linebacker, he looked around the room, muttered a "Hey, Fitz" and made his way to the kitchen in search of food. Instantly the tension was broken. Mike hadn't even flinch at the presence of Ezra in their living room. It was if he expected nothing less.

An awkward silence once again fell over the room, and this time it was Byron who spoke up, "Let's eat."

With that statement, Aria, Ezra, and Ella all let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding. Ella turned to follow Byron into the living room leaving Aria and Ezra to have a moment.

"Shall we?" Ezra motioned to the dining room and took a step in that direction.

"Wait," Aria spoke up, tugging on Ezra's arm holding him back from joining the rest of her family.

"What is …"

Before he could even finish his statement, Aria attached herself to Ezra's lips. Catching Ezra by surprise, Aria pulled Ezra's body to hers by wrapping her arms around his neck. Ezra reacted quickly, leaning into the kiss and simultaneously wrapping his arms around her torso. As quick as the kiss had started, Aria pulled back.

"What was that for?" Ezra questioned.

"Oh nothing," she sang as she pulled Ezra to join her family in the dining room. Ezra just laughed at her, he wasn't about to question what was happening between them.

An hour later, everyone was seated at the table immersed in conversation. It was almost if everything was normal. Byron hadn't made any inappropriate comments toward Ezra and Mike had only made the occasional joke about having a teacher at their table. Ezra and Aria had even grown comfortable acting like a couple in front of Byron and Ella; touching each other, leaning in to make comments to each other and even some light flirting at times. Aria was amazed at how well it was going and for the first time in months, she realized she was getting back to being happy.

Breaking Aria's deep thoughts, Byron cleared his voice, quickly changing the tone of the room. "So Ezra, " he began, "I'm glad to see you've recovered well".

Caught off guard, Ezra could only respond with a slight grimace on his face, " yes, it hasn't been easy, but I'm getting there." He immediately sensed that Aria had shifted in the chair next to him, sitting up straighter, tensing at the conversation her father had started.

"What exactly happened that night Ezra, I mean I can't imagine how terrifying the whole ordeal must have been?" Byron continued, swirling the scotch in his cup after taking a long sip. Clearly he wasn't going to let it go without some sort of answer.

"Dad!" Aria immediately blurted out, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Astounded that her father would ask such a question.

"Aria, it's alright," Ezra comforted Aria, placing his hand atop hers on the table.

"No, Ezra! It's not okay! He has no right to ask you these questions!" Aria continued, clearly getting very upset very quickly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's just a question," Ezra once again tried to calm Aria. This time, he placed his other hand on her thigh, rubbing it in a comforting manner.

"I was just curious to hear about that night. There wasn't too much detail on the news, but I mean it's amazing that you survived," Byron spoke once again, not acknowledging Aria's clearly distressed state.

At that statement, Aria got up from the table, grabbed her plate and walked into the kitchen. She immediately threw her plate in the sink, shattering it immediately and began to cry. The memories from what really happened that night started filling her head. She was the reason Ezra was there. She was the reason he was almost killed. She almost killed the man she loved.

Back in the living room, Ella had began to rise from her seat to go check on Aria, but as they heard the slam of the plates, Ezra immediately stood up, "let me," he said with a tight smile on his face. He wasn't sure why Aria was getting so upset, but one thing was for sure, she wasn't okay.

As he cautiously walked into the kitchen, he found aria perched by the sink, bracing herself on the countertop and silently trembling. It was clear she was crying so Ezra walked up behind her and carefully wrapping his arms around her waist, molding his body to hers hoping to give her some comfort.

"What's going on Aria?" he whispered softly into her ear. "Talk to me" he begged, his voice becoming thick with emotion.

That was the moment she broke. Her soft tears had quickly turned into heavy sobs that wracked her body and within seconds, her body was too heavy to stand. Within seconds she crumpled in Ezra's arms. Ezra reacted, catching her in his arms are her legs gave out and slowly lowering them to the floor.

Ezra was terrified at her state. She was literally falling to pieces in his arms. "Talk to me," he begged once more, desperation filling his voice as he cradled Aria as tightly as he could.

Moments passed as Aria tried to calm herself enough to speak. She was now clinging desperately to Ezra, holding onto him as if he were her only hold on this world.

"I almost lost you," she whispered breathlessly between sobs.

Ezra was shocked. They had never really talked about that night in detail and it was clear Aria had been suffering ever since in silence. Yet, she had never uttered a word to him about how it was effecting her, eating her up inside. Still trying to wrap his mind around what she must be feeling, Ezra just responded by desperately running his hands over her body and placing kisses on the top of Aria's head to calm her.

With a deep breath, Aria spoke once more, "It's all my fault".

"No, no, no," Ezra responded immediately. "It is not your fault, you should never say that again." He then moved to grasp Aria's face gently in his hands and locked eyes with her. "I want you to understand something," he spoke softly and quietly just enough for her to hear, "that night was not your fault. I was protecting you. It was my choice to be on that rooftop."

"You got shot for me," Aria responded, having gained a degree of control over her breathing in between sobs. "I watched you get shot and I held you in my arms…. I thought you were going to die, Ezra. I thought you were going to leave me all alone," she finished, her tears once again falling harder, her body violently shaking.

"I'm so sorry," Ezra said, silent tears now running down his face. "But I'm okay," he said. "I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm here," he repeated over and over again, hoping it would break it's way through the sobbing and sink into Aria's head.

For a few more minutes, they both sat there crying. Slowly, Aria was calming down as Ezra held her, rocking her back and forth in his arms, whispering reassurances in Aria's ear. Ezra noted that not one member of Aria's family had dared enter the kitchen. They must be so worried, he thought.

Not a moment later, Ella slowly made her way into the kitchen, visibly shaken at the scene in front of her. Aria, now calmed, still had silent tears running down her face and was still holding onto Ezra desperately. Ezra cradled Aria in his arms and was rubbing soothing circles on her back, his eyes rimmed with red.

"Are you two alright?" she asked lightly, not wanting to upset either of the two in front of her more.

"I'm not sure," Ezra said bluntly. "But we will be."

Ella shook her head in acknowledgement, a tight smile appearing on her face. She knew that Aria was hurting, but she didn't realized how deeply until today.

"Why don't I take you upstairs?" Ezra asked Aria softly now that she had settled down some. "You need some rest. I should let you rest."

"No!" Aria said immediately, "don't leave me, please don't leave me!" The desperation in her voice was clear, she was terrified at the thought of Ezra leaving in that moment.

"Okay, Okay, shhh," Ezra said quickly. He then looked up at Ella, not sure how to handle the situation.

Moments passed and Aria seemed to settle down once again. "Why don't you and Aria go to your place?" Ella suggested to Ezra. "Aria needs rest and I don't think she is going to get much if she's alone."

Shocked at the suggestion, Ezra responded, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's what she needs and right now that is all I care about," Ella answered with conviction.

Aria nodded her head in approval, so Ezra began to pull them up off the floor awkwardly. Once they were standing, he put his arm around her and they walked back into the dinning room.

"Is everything okay?" Byron question, clearly disturbed by Aria's disheveled state. Mike was nowhere in sight, Byron must have sent him up to his room when Aria left the table.

Ezra wasn't quite sure how to answer so he looked to Ella as a sign she should answer. "Aria is going to stay with Ezra tonight," she said with a look that relayed to Byron that he shouldn't question her on this matter.

Aria and Ezra made their way to the door, Ezra slipping his coat on then moving to help Aria with hers. It was clear she was exhausted. She just stood there while Ezra carefully put her coat on carefully. It was as if she was a porcelain doll and he was afraid she would shatter at any moment.

Quickly Ezra said his goodbyes to Byron and Ella, thanking them for the dinner. As he turned towards the door, Ella motioned for him to come over to her for a moment out of Aria's earshot.

"She's been having nightmares," Ella said tearfully. "I didn't really know what they were about and she wouldn't talk to me about them, so I let it go. I shouldn't have, look what's happened to her."

Ezra was slightly surprised, but he shouldn't have been. The nightmares were just one more thing Aria hadn't talked to him about.

"I'll take care of her," he said simply. "I promise." With those words, Ezra turned to make his way back to Aria who was standing silently by the door

Ezra grabbed Aria's hand and looked into her eyes. "Let's go home," he said softly. With that, he led them outside in the brisk air to return to their sanctuary that was 3B.

**Read and review! xoxo**


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